60- Shadows Beneath the Surface
POV Lunara Grimwald:
My body floated, moving with the gentle sway of the lake’s water. The sun shone brightly through my closed eyelids. In the distance, I could hear the hiss of the small creatures inhabiting the forest, as well as the graceful song of some birds.
It was as if I were finally at peace.
The insidious heat of the sun seeped into my skin, keeping it warm in contrast to the cold water.
I kept swaying slowly, drifting farther and deeper. But I didn’t care; I only wanted to prolong those moments of tranquility.
It was as if I didn’t have to worry about anything else. Not about Alessio hunting me, not about my missing sister, nor about Edric and the strange way my wolf behaved in his presence.
It was just me and nature.
"You didn’t tell me how dinner went last night," Lyris’s voice pulled me out of my stupor.
I sighed loudly and shifted, stopping my floating on the water. I submerged, pulling my hair back before emerging and wiping my face with one hand, brushing away the droplets. I opened my eyes, fixing them on her as she sat at the bank under the shade of a tree, holding my book.
"It was... normal." I laughed. "Seriously, it even felt strange, but it was nice. The elders act like parents, and the alphas, well... they were all wonderful, except for Sullivan, who kept provoking Edric."
She rolled her eyes and closed the book, tossing it aside.
"He and Edric always act like that when they’re near each other."
I nodded in agreement.
The water reached my chin, covering me completely.
"There was also one alpha missing."
"Ah, that was probably Viktor. He never attends any of the meetings; he hardly cares about council matters."
"Why?"
Lyris glanced around and inhaled, absorbing the scents, making sure we were truly alone. She turned back to me and leaned forward, lowering her voice.
"Nobody really knows. Viktor is kind of... problematic."
"Problematic?" I raised an eyebrow.
"His village is the most isolated. It’s very hard to reach, not to mention the countless traps set around it. He never goes to meetings, doesn’t care about maintaining ‘good neighborly relations’"—she made air quotes with her fingers—"like the others. But there’s a whole dark story behind him."
I drew closer to the bank, intrigued.
"And what is it?"
She looked around again before continuing:
"He had a wife who was pregnant, but... they say he killed her, along with the pup."
My eyes widened and my mouth fell open in shock.
"My God!" I gasped. "Why?"
She shrugged.
"Nobody knows." She pushed her braids over her shoulder. "They also say he has an entire cemetery of females on his land. I think he’s kind of a psychopath, obsessed with killing females."
Death was treated differently in each pack. In Eldoria, they burned the bodies to free their souls into the vale, but apparently not in every territory, since Alpha Viktor had that cemetery, according to Lyris.
"That’s kind of shocking," I whispered. "And here I was thinking I belonged to a pack where the alphas were sexist and crazy."
She laughed loudly.
"What about Sullivan? Edric was provoking him about his mate being alive." I frowned, noticing how confusing that sounded.
She nodded.
"Viktor isn’t the only one with dark secrets."
"Really?"
"Sullivan had his fated mate killed the moment she was born. The reason? Nobody knows. That’s why the provocations."
I clicked my tongue.
"So, Edric has a dead fiancée, while Sullivan and Viktor murdered their mates. What’s left for Aldren and Konrad?"
Elowen would love to hear all this gossip when she joined us. She’d be shocked by the wickedness of these alphas, bordering on the insane.
"I know Aldren also had a fiancée who apparently betrayed him, but that’s all I know. And Konrad, aside from being a good shepherd to his flock, is a passionate male, always searching for love."
I huffed, disappointed there wasn’t more depravity. Lyris laughed.
"Want more stories?"
"Of course. I’ll never judge my pack again after what you’ve told me," I mocked.
She shook her head, still smiling.
"Your old pack, Lunara. Now you’re Eldoria."
I sighed and splashed my arms in the water.
"Not exactly... I haven’t been accepted yet, not completely."
"It doesn’t matter what they think or say; you’re Edric’s mated partner, our alpha’s mate. You became part of us the moment that happened."
I shifted, splashing some drops away, almost hitting Lyris.
"That doesn’t make things any easier, though," I muttered.
"I’ve tried everything to win this pack over, but Thalira is always in the way, ruining things."
She bent her knees and stared at me.
"She does that because she’s terrified they’ll like you, that they’ll start admiring you. She thinks if that happens, Edric might fully claim you as his mate, and not just as a wolf he mated with."
I watched the sway of the tall, thin branches in the gentle breeze. The nature around was beautiful, a rugged landscape easy to appreciate. It was easy to understand why Edric loved the windows in his house so much.
"I don’t care what she thinks," I whispered so softly that if Lyris weren’t a wolf, she wouldn’t have heard me. "She’s ridiculous and Edric is an idiotic bastard—they deserve each other."
She laughed.
"I’ll agree with that, in part. Yes, Thalira is a filthy bitch and Edric is definitely a bastard, but no, they don’t deserve each other."
"Why?" I asked, moving my hands under the water.
She squinted at me.
"Because he deserves someone like you, especially after so much time spent in grief and self-pity." She raised a finger. "But after everything he’s done, I don’t think he truly deserves you."
A sharp pang struck my chest, strong and deep. I blinked it away and turned my gaze from Lyris.
"Well, I think no one deserves anyone," I retorted, drawing even closer to the bank and stepping out of the water. "Right now, I just want peace in my life. I want a pleasant place to stay, where people respect me and I feel safe, far from Alessio’s shadow."
The water clung to my clothes and dripped onto the ground, leaving a trail behind me as I walked. I dropped down beside Lyris, leaning my back against the thick tree trunk. Leaves and soil clung to me.
"I’m trying to undo all the harm Thalira has done to you. People are already starting to believe, Lunara. Soon this pack will be comfortable enough for you, so you won’t have to hide in the farthest lake."
I let out a soft laugh.
"I’m not here to hide. I love this place."
She shook her head, sounding condescending.
"Either way, I’m working to make every place lovely for you." She winked.
I turned toward her and held her hands.
"Thank you, Lyris, truly. I’m lucky to have a friend like you."
She rolled her eyes.
"I’m just doing my part," she scoffed.
It wasn’t true—she was doing far more than that.